Improvement in feathering paddle-wheels



HAM

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH G. SHANDS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN FEATHERING PADDLE-WHEELYS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,149, dated June 17,1856.,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH G. SHANDs, of the city and county of St.Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and ImprovedPaddle-Wheel for the Propulsion of Vessels;

. and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and eXactdescription thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings,making a part of this specification.

Figure l in said drawings is a side View of my improved paddle-wheel;Fig. 2, a face view thereof; Fig. 8, a section in the line y y of Fig.2; Fig. 4, a section of one of the eccentric rings O and one of thesteadying-wheels D, showing their relative position with each other andwith the main shaft A; and Fig. 5 is a side View of one of thevertically-acting bucketarms h detached from the wheel.

Similar-lettersindicate like parts in all the gures.

My improved paddle-wheel is constructed in such a manner that thebuckets z' 1.' of said wheel are retained in a vertical position duringtheir entire revolution, and by such an arrangement of parts as guardssaid buckets at all points against liability to injury from any of theordinary shocks or concussions which paddle-wheels are exposed to.

A is the Wheel-shaft.

B B are the rims of the wheel, which are connected to its shaft in theordinary manner by means of a suitable number of arms radiating fromhubs placed thereon. The rims B B of the paddle-wheel are connected toeach other by means of a series of bucketshafts g g, Whose outerextremities project beyond the outer sides of the rims and whosejournals are received into journal-boxes secured to said rims. Thebuckets may be secured to their shafts g g in the manner represented inthe drawings or by any other suitable method. Rings U C, that are alittle larger in diameter than the rims B B of the paddle -wheel, areplaced outside the said wheel-rims and a sufficient distance verticallyabove them to enable said rings to be connected to the projecting endsof the bucket- Shafts g g by means of the arms h h, which arerigidly'secured to the said bucket-shafts and which are jointed to therings O'O by means of properly-secured pivot-bolts. The bucket-arms 'h hare secured to the bucketshafts g g in such positions, respectively, asto .cause them to be all parallel with each other and parallel with thesides of the buckets z' ,and the said bucket-arms are of such a lengthas to cause them to all stand in vertical positions when the rings C Care supported in such a manner as to bring their axes vertically abovethe axis of the paddlewheel. To relieve the bucket-arms h h from thesevere shocks caused by the rings O C being brought in violent contactwith ice, logs, or other obstructions, or from shocks caused by thesudden stoppage of the vessel or other y cause', I place Within eachring O a steadying grooved wheel D, secured to the wheel-shaft A andacting on the inner periphery of said rings. L also place two smallergrooved wheels E E on suitable arbors lF F in such positions as to acton the outer peripheries of said rings opposite their axes. The saidgrooved Wheels E E rotate freely on their arbors F F, and they areallowed to have a limited lateral movement on said arbors controlled bythe odsets or shoulders lo k, and the springsjj interposed between saidoffsets or shoulders and the said grooved wheels, which arrangementenables the grooved wheels E E to adaptthemselves to all the needfullateral oscillations of the said rings and yet enables said groovedwheels to afford ample lateral support to said rings when they aresubjected to violent shocks. All shocks or concussions which have atendency to force upward the rings O C are transmitted directly to thewheel-shaft A by the grooved wheels D D, and therefore no injury canresult from such concussions. The sides of the grooves in the peripheryof each of the wheels D D act in conjunction with the grooved wheels E Ein affording the proper lateral support to the rims O O of my improvedpaddle-wheel. The holes in the outer ends of the bucketarms h h, whichreceive the pivot-bolts that connect said arms to the rings O C, aremade of an oblong shape, as shown in Fig. 5. This shape 0f the aperturein said bucket-arms, taken in connection with the grooved wheels D D onthe shaft A, prevents the concussions which may throw upward the/rings'C C from acting on and bending said arms. The Weight of the said rings CO is sustained entirely by the arms h 71, but any concussion which may2. In connection with the combination of the Wheels D D With shaft A insuch positions as to bring them Within the inner peripheries oi' therings C C, making the holes in the outer ends of the arms h h of anoblong shape, for the purpose substantially as herein set forth.

JOSEPH G. SHANDS.

Witnesses:

Z. C. RoBBINs, S. H. SHAKSPEARE.

